


Wherein I'll Catch the Conscience of the King

by BubbaKnowlton



Series: Doctor and Lizard space dads [8]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Au - male cardassians lay eggs, Dad AU, Kidfic, M/M, Mpreg, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Tags will be added, a big mixture of fluff angst humor and drama, alternate Cardassian biology, extremely self indulgent lol, im just here to have a blast and write about lizard kids making friends, probably OOC as hell but who cares, things get worse before they get better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 22:45:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17775644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbaKnowlton/pseuds/BubbaKnowlton
Summary: “Yes,” Tei agreed. “Maybe the Doctor really doesn’t care for you, with a sentiment like that.”“After all, he told us how much… well, I’m sure he’d be happy to answer that himself.”They really did take after him. Keeping secrets about Julian- though a bit infuriating, he was proud.“You can both try to solve high-stakes mysteries. Etta, let’s practice our act.”It's never a dull day when Julian spends time with Garak, especially not when he has two kids almost as dramatic and dishonest as their father. But they aren't as good as hiding secrets as him, especially not big secrets that they could work in their favor if revealed. Once again, Julian has to put together the clues before things take a deadly turn.





	Wherein I'll Catch the Conscience of the King

**Author's Note:**

> SO i actually wrote this first chapter. a long time ago. like a few months ago. and have just now transferred it off of my iPad and onto my computer and edited it, which took. hours. it's vaguely outlined and this is actually a sequel to a fic that is completely outlined but not written, The Play's the Thing.  
> to sum up the basic background for garak's two kids in this because his family is Dramatic As Hell and refuses to talk about anything, what happened is that Etta & Tei were left on Bajor to avoid getting taken/discovered by Tain/the Order and thought to have died. However, they were taken to an orphanage by a Vedek, and later ran away and were taken in by an older Cardassian war orphan, Garvan, who named them Ena and Tain after the grandfather they vaguely remembered their father telling them about, took care of them and a couple of Bajoran kids until they heard Garak was still on DS9, and made their way to the station. They stayed with Garak while their siblings went to Cardassia, and got renamed.  
> this takes place Roughly season 6/7. i havent decided. it's pretty canon divergent at the end i think, so,,, we'll see if i can jam it in the timeline next chapter or if i feel like leaving it. ambiguous.
> 
> shout out to whoever came up with the cardassian word Yad'/Yadik, i love it.

**Chapter 1**

Julian didn’t need to use his genetic enhancements to help him figure out that Garak was hiding something important from him. Although the Cardassian was eating lunch as usual, reading a short story Julian had presented to him as soon as they sat down, the two children sitting next to them gave it away. The twins were staring at Garak, confusion evident on their little faces.

Despite Garak being a master at keeping secrets, his sons hadn’t perfected the art. They weren’t hiding their agitation and anxiety at all. One of them scented the air, and Julian was delighted to discover that Cardassians had something similar to a Jacobson’s organ. Each of the boys had done it seven times so far.

Julian wasn’t sure what they could be picking up in the air that was distressing them so. There weren’t any other Cardassians around, and the replimat was relatively empty, with just a few Starfleet officers, some Bajorans, and a few aliens Julian recognized as longtime residents of the station.

He concluded that Garak was hiding something involving the twins. Usually so attentive to their wellbeing, he had never ignored them when they were upset before.

“Etta, Tei, has anything interesting happened this morning?” he asked them.

They startled, looking at him as if they had totally forgotten he was there. Etta opened his mouth to answer him, but turned to his brother and thought better of it. They both looked down at their untouched plates, frowning. After a moment, Tei replied, “No, Doctor. It’s been a dull morning.”

It’d been weeks since they’d last called him Doctor to his face. He had worked hard at getting them to like him enough to call him Julian. Something was very wrong, and he needed to find out what.

“My dear, I’m afraid I’m not familiar with what a ‘spaniel’ is,” Garak spoke before he could question the boys any further.

Julian held back a sigh and answered, “It’s a type of Earth dog. Small, brown, and white. They hunted small game.”

“I see. Children, focus on eating your lunch. We’re having dinner late.” The boys gave Garak an odd look but obediently picked up their spoons. Julian wasn’t sure what the blue stew they were eating was, but they seemed to enjoy it. They had a plate with some sort of Bajoran pastry on it, which they were sharing. Although they had gladly adapted to eating whatever Cardassian dishes Garak placed in front of them each day, it was nice to see they still enjoyed the meals they’d grown up eating on Bajor.

“That explains why you’re eating more than usual,” Julian commented, mostly to himself. He was glad to see Garak eating a full and healthy meal. Garak frowned at him. “Ah, I only meant that- Well, you know humans tend to eat so quickly, so you usually eat less than me during our lunches.”

One of the twins made a noise that was halfway between a chirp and an ‘ah,’ drawing their attention. Ignoring their stares, Tei grabbed Garak’s padd and stylus and clicked a button to annotate the story. Instead of commenting, he wrote something in wobbly Kardasi and showed it to his brother, who made a similar noise. After exchanging a wide-eyed look, they handed the padd to Garak.

For the briefest of moments, an expression of shock crossed Garak’s face. Then he was back to his neutral smile. After erasing the annotation, he said to the twins, “My dears, what a silly idea!”

They didn’t believe him, seeing how Garak’s smile was decidedly more forced than usual, and frowned deeper. Etta stuck out the tip of his tongue much like an Earth lizard, annoyed. Curious, yet knowing he would get a false answer, Julian asked, “What did they write?”

“They think I am stress-eating. Quite ridiculous, of course. I have nothing to be stressed about.” Tei stuck out the tip of his tongue as well. Garak made a small gesture at them with a finger and said quietly, “We will have a talk about your behavior later.”

Satisfied despite the threat of a scolding, the two returned to eating. Julian, left even more confused, was now much more curious. Whatever Garak was hiding was big, and the twins had just figured out what it was, much to their father’s dismay. Julian wished he had dedicated himself to learning Kardasi when Garak offered to teach him. He couldn’t translate what the two had written on the padd, though he was sure it was in question form.

He would need to do some investigating. Garak was fond of keeping dangerous things from him until the very last possible moment, and he didn’t want a repeat of any of those events. He’d had quite enough of Garak’s surprises, the suicide threats, life-threatening phobias, and near death experiences… It would be best to figure this one out before it turned into another life or death situation.

-

Garak settled down at his work desk in the back of his shop, sighing, fatigue had been plaguing him for over a week now. Just walking to the replimat and eating lunch with the doctor had drained most of his energy. The chill of the station didn’t help to combat his exhaustion at all, and now he wanted nothing more than to put his head down and nap.

However, he had work to do in the back of his shop and children to watch over. The twins had yet to abandon their scavenging ways despite the weeks that they had lived on the station. As a result, they required near constant supervision. If Garak let them out of his sight, they were bound to get into trouble, and he really didn’t feel like arguing with the constable to keep them out of a holding cell again.

The twins were standing in front of him, waiting for the talk he’d promised them. After taking a moment to think of how he wanted to do this, taking into consideration their young age and how Bajoran they acted, he looked down at them and decided to get straight to the point. “How did you figure it out?” He asked.

“Julian said you were eating more than usual,” Etta started. “You have been.”

“You’re always tired, and you’ve been wearing more layers to keep warm,” Tei added.

In unison, they finished, “You smell different too.”

“Excellent observational work and deduction skills, my dears.” They beamed at the praise. Garak put a hand over his abdomen. “Your theory was correct, though the correct term is gravid, not pregnant, for a male Cardassian. Males carry eggs. You’ll be having a younger sibling or two in a few months.”

The two immediately began to ask questions, excited. “How many eggs are you having?”

“I’m not sure. Three or four.”

“When are they going to come?”

“In two months.”

“How long are they going to take to hatch?”

“Another month.”

“Is Doctor Bashir the father?” The two were quite fond of Julian, seeing him as family despite Garak’s insistence that Julian didn’t see him as a real lover. They were nothing but friends.

It would only disappoint them if he denied it. “Yes, he is.”

Before he could say anything else, the two shared a look and Etta mounted something in Bajoran to Tei. They smiled up at their father and asked, “Can we help name them?”

Names were very important to the two of them, so he nodded. As they wandered off to go and play, finally done with their questions for the moment, he grabbed their wrists. “Etta, Tei, you cannot tell anyone about your siblings, especially not Doctor Bashir. If anyone finds out, they’ll be in danger.”

Their smiles faded. “We promise we won’t tell, Yadik,” Etta replied. Dutifully, Tei echoed him. He let them go and turned to his desk, picking up a dress he was in the middle of working on. They went out to the front of the shop and began discussing what game they should play, loud enough so he could hear them. As he added a delicate trim to the sleeves of the dress, they finally decided to play an Earth game Julian had introduced them to. Charades.

-

Etta and Tei eventually grew cold playing out in the shop and brought out a padd to practice their handwriting, retreating to the back room. They huddled up underneath the desk to keep warm and took turns copying the text from one of their father’s books onto a padd. Although the could read it just fine, save for some of the bigger or older words, they weren’t very good at writing it. They quietly agreed to practice every day.

The sound of their father’s sewing machine slowly faded away after a small thud, and they went completely still at the silence. They couldn’t hear anyone else in the room, and weren’t picking up anything in the air either. No immediate cause for concern. Holding hands, they waited. Once they determined that there was no danger, they crawled out from under the desk and looked around.

Everything was the same, and then Tei gestured to their father. Etta nodded in understanding. Their father had fallen asleep at his desk. The sewing machine had automatically slowed to a stop when the fabric had been pulled away. Etta shut it off and moved the cloth and other tools aside. Tei went to the wall and manually dimmed the lights. When Tei turned back around, Etta made a gesture, a motion of putting something on their father’s back, and mouthed ‘ours’ to his twin.

Holding out his hand, Tei agreed. The two of them were glad to have a way of easily communicating in silence. They’d mastered figuring out how to communicate quickly and silently so they could give the appearance of knowing exactly what the other was thinking. Julian had called it eerie whenever they spoke in unison, but they figured even he would find it cute that they were using it to make sure they didn’t disturb their tired father.

Etta came over and joined hands with his brother. They quietly left the shop, squinting a bit when they entered the brightly lit hall of the promenade. Tei locked the doors behind them and they began to walk towards their quarters.

Once there, they put on warmer sweaters and folded up the quilt their father had made them a week ago. Etta carried it back to the shop. Tei unlocked the doors and they went to the back. Together, they draped the quilt over their father and adjusted it to make sure it wouldn’t fall.

They went back out to the front and were in the middle of a game of hide and seek when a customer walked in. Tei realized he’d forgotten to lock the doors again. However, they both knew that they couldn’t just drive the customer out of the shop. It would risk waking up their father. So instead, they stepped out and held hands.

“Hello, children.” As their universal translators repeated her words into Kardasi, they recognized the greeting as being Federation Standard. The customer was a Bajoran woman neither of them recognized, dressed nicely. The fabric of her scarf was the same kind as a bolt in the back. She was a regular customer.

In Bajoran, they replied, “Hello. Is there anything you’re interested in?”

She looked happy to hear her own language, and switched to it. Their translators stayed silent, as programmed. “There was a shirt in here I had my eye on. It’s red and orange, with a high collar and flared sleeves. Is it still available?”

Tei pointed it out to her.

“Wonderful! Is Mr. Garak here? I’d love to have this fitted.”

“He’s not in right now. If you pay a deposit now, we can put the shirt in the back and make an appointment. You can come back for a fitting tomorrow.”

“That’s perfect.” She reached into her handbag and asked, “How much is the deposit?”

“Two strips.” She handed over the latinum as Tei picked up the shirt. Etta put it in the register and put her in on his father’s schedule.

“Thank you, boys. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“We’re glad to have been of service, miss.” She left the shop with a smile. The twins looked at each other, proud of themselves. They wouldn’t need to worry about serving customers if that experience was the norm. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to help if anyone wanted any actual tailoring done, but they could easily schedule things and take latinum. Their father would be proud that they could manage the shop by themselves already. As they put the shirt in the back, they checked on him. He was still sound asleep.

Another customer came in twenty minutes later, once again interrupting their game. A human man they also did not recognize. The long coat he was wearing had a noticeable rip along the side seam. Seeing them, the man frowned and asked, “Is there a tailor in here?”

“Our guardian isn’t in right now. We could assist you.”

“A couple of Cardie kids… Damn, what the hell? I need this fixed fast. How much to sew this up?”

Although they knew the prices of everything in the shop, they didn’t the fitting and mending prices. “We don’t know, but we can figure that out once we’re done.”

He didn’t look very happy about it, but handed over his coat regardless. The twins took it over to the back counter. Etta picked up a sewing tool while Tei laid out the coat. Their father had shown them basic sewing methods and taught them how to use most of the tools he owned. Etta turned the tool on and recalled a technique that would hide the thread. He sewed it up, Tei watching at his side, hoping that he was doing it right. 

When they pulled back to look at it, it was a success. Tei straightened the coat and handed it back to the human. “Here you go, sir!”

“Huh. It actually looks decent. Good job, here.” He handed them a few slips. It felt so nice to earn their own money again. Their friends from Bajor would have been glad to see them providing for themselves like they used to.

“Thank you, sir!”

A few more customers, all Starfleet officers, came in to see about fittings. The twins marked them down on the schedule. Someone else purchased a jacket. After that person had paid and left, Tei gave his brother a half smile and gestured to the shop. It was a busy afternoon, but they were handling it just fine.

The padd dinged. A notification popped up, a message from Julian. After translating it, they discovered that he wanted to know if Garak would be available tomorrow evening for dinner. They waited a few minutes, knowing their father would never immediately answer a message.

_Of course. I would love to have dinner with you tomorrow. Would 1930 hours be alright? If you would like I could have Chief O’Brien watch over the children. He owes me a favor._

They desperately hoped that the Kardasi to Standard translator they plugged the message into came up with an accurate enough translator. They sent it, and within seconds Julian had responded with an affirmative and two meaningless punctuations symbols. They stared at them, and then Tei turned the padd. He pointed at it and then at his face, and smiled.

A smiling face. Etta smiled back at him. They marked down dinner on the schedule. Now they just needed to get the Chief to agree to watch them. They couldn’t message him, had no idea where he was on the station, and didn’t know where his quarters were. Asking the computer risked the question being traced back to them. If they asked someone, it would be suspicious, and the only person they could think of asking was Julian. However, that would defeat the whole purpose.

-

As they mulled it over, the solution walked through the doors of the shop. Chief O’Brien himself, with a huge tear in his shirt. He wasn’t in uniform, and they didn’t recognize the style of clothing at all, so he must have come from the holosuite. “Good afternoon, Mr. O’Brien!” they greeted him. “Did you have fun in the holosuite?”

“How did you- ah, of course. I’m not in uniform. Where’s Garak?”

“He’s not in right now. How can we help you?”

“He left you two in charge?”

“In a way.”

“Can you guys fix a shirt?” They nodded. “Good. Garak been teaching you?”

“Yes! It’s fun.” Tei pointed towards the changing rooms. “If you need a shirt to wear while that one is being mended, we’ll be happy to provide one.”

“I’ll just zip up this jacket.”

After removing his shirt and zipping up the odd and colorful jacket he was wearing, he handed it over to them. As they tried to figure out how to mend such a huge tear, he wandered around the shop. Etta just went ahead and tried the setting they’d been using all day.

Tei decided to use their chance, starting, “Mr. O’Brien-”

“You can just call me Chief, guys.”

“Chief,” Tei amended. “Could we come over to your quarters tomorrow evening and play with Molly? We promise to behave.”

He thought about it for a moment. Etta stopped sewing to stare at him with his brother. “Well, Julian speaks pretty highly of you two, so… sure. Just make sure it’s okay with your dad. I wouldn’t want either of you to get in any trouble.”

“Make sure what is okay with me?” Etta and Tei turned to see Garak coming out of the back. He stifled a yawn and gave Chief O’Brien a slight nod. “Chief.”

“The boys want to come over tomorrow evening to play with Molly. Keiko wouldn’t mind at all.”

“May we, Yadik?” The twins smiled up at him, eyes gleaming.

The two of them were up to something, but it was a harmless request. Molly was a nice girl, and the boys desperately needed a friend to occupy their time. “Of course, my dears. Now, let me see that.” Garak took over mending the shirt. As he sewed it up, he noticed his padd on the counter, and the now full schedule he had for tomorrow. “What’s all this?”

They beamed, clearly proud of themselves. “We took care of the shop this afternoon!” Etta told him.

“It was fun!” Tei added.

“How responsible of you. Excellent work.” The evening was blocked off, but Garak didn’t say anything about it. How sly of them to arrange an evening to benefit themselves so fully. Trying to fix him up with a man who was kind to them, getting to spend time with a potential friend and species they were unfamiliar with. A possible opportunity to spend the night somewhere besides their quarters. “I’ll bring them to your quarters at 1700 hours tomorrow, and pick them up after three hours. This shirt should be done in a few days,” he told the Chief.

After the Chief had left the shop, the twins began discussing what games they wanted to play with Molly. They settled on deciding to perform for her one of their acts from Bajor, one with a Gul and a Bajoran’s captive daughter, a version where their friend Shotoo had played the captive. Since Shotoo was a mute toddler, it had to be a silent role anyone could play.

“Domet was always the Bajoran farmer, but I think I could play his role, speaking Bajoran. You’ll play the Gul?”

“If we get rid of the parts of the soldiers, add their lines to the Gul’s, I think we could do a pretty good three-person performance!”

“And after the play, perhaps Molly will show us more human games.”

“Then maybe she can explain some of the human games Julian told us about…”

Garak interrupted their planning. “And what do you two hope to accomplish by leaving me alone with Doctor Bashir in my state?”

“It’d be very suspicious if you didn’t go,” Etta replied.

“You can’t start avoiding him. He’ll start searching for answers,” Tei warned.

“He’ll find clues. You fell asleep in the shop, left us to run it. You’re eating more, tried some human meals during your past few lunches…”

“And we like him! If he’s close to you, he’ll keep being nice to us. If you avoid him, he might avoid us.”

Sound Cardassian reasoning, except for that last part. “I have told you both before. Doctor Bashir does not have romantic feelings for me. Occasional copulation-” Etta rolled his eyes at his choice of words. “-does not mean there is love between us. He will not become family just because we are friends and have lunch together.”

They pointedly looked at his middle. “Okay, Yadik.”

“Building a relationship off of an accidental pregnancy is a poor idea for both the parents and the clutch. Just look at yourselves. You have both been happy and healthy without your sire your whole lives.”

They frowned at him, eyes turning cold. “Like how we were happy and healthy on Bajor?”

Ah, Garak thought. They did resent him for leaving them on Bajor after all. He wasn’t surprised that they did, just that it had taken so long to come up. They had every right to be upset about the last six years, but it… hurt, to see it on their faces.

“I did what I had to do.”

Etta looked off to the side first. “It’s a pity you didn’t just kill us.”

Tei copied him. “After all, we have no status now, with no sire to claim us and an exiled bearer.”

Together, “And children with no status aren’t truly Cardassian.” They’d practiced that. Somehow, that hurt as well. That they knew he’d say something to dismiss what he’d done, that they expected him to deny the responsibility and consequences, and would turn on him, echoing the Cardassian ideals he preached to them.

Perhaps they hadn’t been ready to read the Cardassian novels he’d given them after all. They still thought in such a Bajoran manner. He should have waited until they were open to ideas about duty to the state and proper Cardassian custom.

“I have claimed you now, and I will claim this clutch,” he promised them, hoping he would get to keep that promise. There was always doubt, of course, though he wanted to do right by his children now. He would try not to make the same mistakes he had made on Bajor. And then he lied to them, hating himself for sounding like his father, “I do not regret what I did. It was necessary, and I would do it again if I had to. You will grow to understand that.” He hoped they would grow to hate that he said that, instead of believing it like he had for so long.

“Maybe you should decline that dinner, after all.” Etta scratched at his wrist.

“Yes,” Tei agreed. “Maybe the Doctor really doesn’t care for you, with a sentiment like that.”

“After all, he told us how much… well, I’m sure he’d be happy to answer that himself.”

They really did take after him. Keeping secrets about Julian- though a bit infuriating, he was proud.

“You can both try to solve high-stakes mysteries. Etta, let’s practice our act.”

They wanted Julian to find out about the clutch, despite all his protests. There was no doubt they would leave the Doctor clues. He would have to work harder to keep the eggs a secret. Garak wished he could make them understand how bad of an idea it was, but truly, they were influenced by their years on Bajor, by the friends they had found. It was his fault they hadn’t been raised like proper Cardassians.

As they jumped into their roles, using his tools as props, a bitter feeling settled in his core.

-

Miles opened the door shortly after Garak pressed the door chime. He didn’t look too happy about seeing him, but he gave the twins a genuine smile when they greeted him. “Hey there, guys. Molly is helping Keiko set the table. We’ll be eating in about ten minutes. Garak, you’ll be back in three hours?”

“I’ll do my best to be on time.”

“Bye, Yadik! Have a nice evening with Doctor Bashir.” Miles’ face fell.

“Stay safe, my dears.” The twins nodded and then stepped through the doorway. The door slid shut behind them.

“Wait-” Miles stared at the twins, who looked up at him, faces innocent. “He’s going on a date with Julian tonight?”

“They’re having dinner together at 1930.”

“A half hour before he’s supposed to pick you up. Great… You’re spending the night, then?”

“We have all our stuff!” They held up a bag. Miles sighed. No wonder Julian had told him he’d heard he owed Garak a favor. They’d set this up so they could get some alone time. He was going to kill Julian the next time he saw him.

You couldn’t just dump your kids on someone overnight so you could be romantic with your partner without being honest about it.

He would have said yes if they had just told him about it, anyway.

Miles showed them a spot to leave their bag and then brought them to the dinner table. Molly set down a plate and looked at the two, nervous at the idea of making two new friends. “Molly, Etta and Tei are here. They can help you set the table.”

“Hello, Molly!” They each took one of her hands and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you! Doctor Bashir told us a lot about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too!” After getting some instruction from Molly, the table was set. The three kids helped Keiko serve the food.

“What kinds of food do you boys like to eat?” Keiko asked them, as they put a little bit of everything onto their plates. Keiko had decided to replicate human, Cardassian, and Bajoran foods.

“We’ll eat any food we’re given,” one of them answered. Miles had no idea which one was which. They both looked exactly the same, in identical outfits.

“You have to have some favorites.”

“Sometimes, on Bajor, our big brother would get enough money to buy a bunch of ingredients and make stew for all of us.”

“That kind of thing is our favorite, even though it didn’t always taste good.”

“That’s very sweet. Maybe one day you two and Molly could try to make something like that.”

“You have a big brother?” Molly asked.

The twins nodded smiling. One piled more food onto their plates while the other answered, “Garvan! He was the Cardassian boy who took care of us and three Bajoran orphans on Bajor. He’s not actually related to us, but we were all brothers and sisters.”

Keiko noticed they were picking more of the Bajoran foods she’d replicated than the Cardassian ones. “Do you prefer Bajoran food?”

“Mhmm. Yad’ says we have to eat Cardassian food, though. Bajoran food doesn’t have all the nutrients we need.”

“Then you need to eat healthy.” Keiko forced more of the Cardassian stew she’d replicated onto their plate, much to their poorly veiled dismay. “Make sure you eat your vegetables, Molly,” Keiko added, putting more vegetables on their daughter’s plate.

“But, Mommy-”

“Mrs. O’Brien-”

“You all need to eat what’s good for you so you can get big and strong.” The three of them began eating without protest. Miles smirked, but then Keiko put a scoop of the stew onto his plate. “You need to get used to other cultures, Miles.”

“But, Keiko-”

-

Miles wasn’t sure how he’d gotten stuck with the role of a riding hound in the play the twins had decided to put on for them. Molly had insisted he join in, and the twins had debated on how to fit him in. Somehow, the setting of the play had changed from Bajor to Cardassia Prime, and now Molly and Yoshi were on his back as Etta, in a little Cardassian military uniform he’d apparently made himself, led them around the room. Yoshi was laughing, which was probably why they’d paused the story to keep circling the room. His knees hurt already, and Keiko had laughed at him.

Tei was sitting on the couch in a Bajoran shirt, holding a fake phaser. The story had abruptly changed so that instead of Tei, a Bajoran farmer refusing to give up his crops to the military, sneaking on board a Cardassian transport heading for Terok Nor where his kidnapped daughter was being held, he was on a warship heading for Cardassia Prime itself in order to rescue his kidnapped daughter and baby son.

The original story was actually quite interesting, possibly inspired by a real Bajoran resistance mission, and Miles had enjoyed watching it until he became a part of it. The twins were decent actors, and had made nice props. Etta spoke in Kardassi for his role, while Tei used Bajoran. One benefit of being bilingual, he supposed. Accuracy.

“How long do I have to do this?” He stopped and Etta tugged on his shirt to get him moving again. He hoped it wouldn’t get stretched.

“Until Tei shows up to fight me. You’ll get slaughtered and can stop, don’t worry.” Etta patted his head. Miles didn’t like the sound of being slaughtered.

Eventually, Yoshi wanted off, so Tei chose that moment to get off the couch and come up to them. “Gul Marak! Give me back my children!”

“So, you kept your promise after all. I didn’t think you had it in you… Not that it matters. You’ll never get your children back, your son and daughter are mine!” Etta tugged on Miles’ shirt and made him turn around.

As he started to crawl away, Tei cried out, “No!” There was a loud squeak from something that made Molly giggle and Etta nudged him. He pulled Molly off, who lifted up Yoshi. Miles laid down on the ground, relieved. His knees could finally rest.

“My riding hound! What did you hope to accomplish by killing her? You won’t be able to defeat me!”

“I will! The Prophets are by my side!”

“Your Prophets do not exist here!” Tei aimed his phaser and Etta dodged as it made the squeaking sound again. Miles wondered if they weren’t allowed to let it sound like a real phaser. The prop looked rather realistic, if not a bit too clunky. They fought each other, Etta’s character taunting Tei’s in a way that reminded Miles of a certain Gul he knew. He laughed quietly to himself. He’d have to tell Julian and Jadzia about the play. They would get a kick out of it.

Finally, Tei pressed his phaser against Etta’s throat. Etta collapsed to the ground after a dramatic squeak and a gasp, and Tei went to Molly and untied the ribbon around her wrists. He hugged her and Yoshi. After a touching moment, he and Molly stood up. They turned to Keiko, and Etta joined them. The three of them bowed.

“Thanks for watching” the twins said in unison, in Bajoran. Keiko clapped and the three of them beamed. Miles sat up and pulled Yoshi onto his lap, clapping as well.

“That was very good, kids! Maybe you two could do a different play with Molly another day.”

-

How could he allow two eight-year-olds to make decisions about his love life? Garak sighed, looking at himself in the mirror. He felt too tired to go and have dinner with Julian, but knew he couldn’t back out now. Hopefully, he could just eat dinner and then leave. Maybe he would actually be able to pick up the children at a decent time.

But Garak knew Julian. He’d want to talk like they usually did, and then the talking would lead exactly to what had caused the second reason why he didn’t want to go. It wasn’t obvious that he was gravid now, not to a non-Cardassian, but he was still reluctant. He wasn’t showing through his clothes, and his scales had yet to change color. He was starting to shed, but that wasn’t terribly unusual. Julian had seen him shed before, and besides, he was due to soon anyways. His scent was the one thing that gave it away, but humans didn’t notice pheromones, not even genetically enhanced ones.

Garak smoothed a hand over his belly. The eggs were still small enough that they couldn’t be felt from the outside, at least not without knowing where to feel and how firmly to press. Julian would have no way of noticing, not unless he took a tricorder reading.

“What a wonderful time to think of something like that, Elim, truly…” He ignored the paranoia that rose at that thought. Julian wouldn’t scan him without permission for no reason. He wouldn’t let himself dwell on the idea. He had better things to focus on worrying about, like what he was going to wear.

After going through most of his clothes, he finally settled on a warm, black and gold shirt and the pants that matched it. Black was slimming, and the shirt was far easier to take off than most of his usual outfits. If he wanted to keep things normal, he’d have to be prepared to sleep with Julian. He wasn’t averse to the idea, and knew he would enjoy it when it happened, but he would rather spend a night nesting with him. It would be warm and safe in Julian’s arms, and…

...and the eggs were already affecting his emotional state. He sighed again, adjusting his sleeve. He and Julian weren’t lovers. They would never do something as affectionate as spending the night cuddling. If he slipped up and suggested such a thing, he was going to ban his sons from using his padd freely for setting this whole date up. Their padd usage would be limited to books and educational programs only.

He still had time before he needed to be on his way, so he settled down at his desk and resumed work on a jacket he was making for one of the twins. The two of them didn’t have enough warm clothes. His padd eventually beeped, alerting him that it was time for him to go to Julian’s quarters.

After smoothing his hands over his abdomen one last time, he grabbed a datarod and headed out.

-

The computer told him that it was 2100 hours, but there was no sign of Garak. Miles groaned internally and looked over at the kids. Molly had asked Etta and Tei why they weren’t packing up their stuff at 2000 hours, when they were supposed to be picked up, but they evaded the question and instead asked her if she could show them something she liked to do. Molly had brought out paper and markers to draw with them.

After half an hour, Keiko had asked the twins why Garak was late. She’d given her husband an almost pained look when they happily replied that he was on a date with Julian, and then told them they were welcome to spend the night.

Molly had asked why a date meant spending the night, and before two Cardassian boys could explain the birds and the bees to his daughter, Miles had interrupted and said he wanted to color too. The twins gave him innocent smiles as they slid a piece of paper and a yellow marker to him. Their faces wouldn’t fool him. He’d head about the trouble their adoptive brother had gotten up to during his time on the station, offering certain services in place of latinum. Julian had told him that the twins talked about how their older brother stopped acting with them to use his good looks in order to get money, once he was too old to beg.

“What are you drawing, Chief?” Etta scooted closer to look at his paper. Tei followed close behind.

“Isn’t it obvious?” The two shared a look and then shook their heads. “It’s a plane!”

They tilted their heads, curious. “What’s a…” Tei did his best to pronounce the word in Standard, “...plane?”

Of course they wouldn’t know what a plane was. “It’s an old Earth vehicle. An early form of ship that couldn’t go into space. Did Cardassia ever have something similar?”

“We don’t know. Yad’ hasn’t taught us that kind of history.”

“We read about battles, though! And the old guls and legates.”

“Yadik wants us to focus on reading novels and practicing our handwriting.”

“And on how to run a shop!”

Horrible, Miles thought, that they weren’t being taught about technology. It was one of the only subjects he’d found interesting as a kid their age.

“I can show you my books!” Molly chimed. “They have all sorts of science and math in them.”

The twins lit up for a moment, but then deflated. “We can’t read Standard…”

“What about Bajoran?” He knew most of Molly’s books had a Bajoran translation, or were just in Bajoran.

“We can speak it, but we can’t read it.”

“I can show you how to make it read the words out loud! Here-” Molly got up and went to her room to grab a padd. Miles let them be as Molly set a Bajoran book about plants to read out loud. “You can learn to read it with this! That’s how I’m learning Bajoran with my mommy. Do you guys know a lot about plants?”

“We know which ones are safe to eat.” Scavengers, Julian had called them. Not all Bajoran and Cardassian war orphans stayed in the orphanages or with kind families, and their little group had spent quite a while dodging helping hands and concerned citizens in order to stay with their ‘brother’ and found family. “But not much else.”

They listened to the padd as it rambled on about photosynthesis and how Bajoran plants differed from Earth ones until Keiko told them to get ready for bed. With minor protests, the kids changed into pajamas. Molly put on a cute pink tee covered in rabbits, while the twins wore matching red, green and white pajamas that reminded Miles of an Earth fruit. Garak had a suit that looked like a watermelon. Perhaps he liked to design clothes based off of foods.

“Your shirt looks like a fruit.” Molly pointed it out while her father mulled over it.

Tei looked down at his shirt while Etta poked at one of Molly’s rabbits. “What’s that? It looks like a Cardassian vole… Is it a prey animal?”

“It’s a rabbit! They’re cute. Voles are ugly.”

“Can you eat them?” Etta asked, tracing one of the larger rabbits on her sleeve. “Hm. Only four legs. Chief, are they edible?”

“Yes, you can eat them. They’re…” Molly looked hurt and Miles regretted his next words, “They’re quite good. The replicator might have them. Ask your dad to replicate you a dish tomorrow. Now, go to bed.”

The kids bid them and each other goodnight. Molly went to her room to get tucked in by her mother, while Etta and Tei huddled together on the couch, drowning in blankets. Keiko was determined to keep them warm enough through the night.

Exhausted from playing with the kids, Miles fell asleep soon after her laid down. Keiko followed suit.

-

When the light turned on in Molly’s room a few hours later, the both of them were sound asleep.

Etta and Tei jerked awake as soon as the light came on, panic striking them until they realized where they were. Not on Bajor, their makeshift home being opened by strangers meaning them no ill will, but on Deep Space Nine, in their new friend’s quarters. The two of them got up and padded over to her doorway once they were sure her parents weren’t going to check on their daughter.

Molly was sitting up in her bed, crying. Holding each other’s hands, they carefully walked up to her bed. She sniffled and wiped her eyes when she saw them, but the tears kept falling.

“Molly,” Etta whispered, putting a hand on her arm, “-are you alright?”

She shook her head. “I had a bad dream.”

“Do you want us to wake your parents?” Tei asked.

“N-no. It was silly.” The two of them tilted their heads, waiting for her to explain her nightmare anyway. “Okay… I was walking in the halls, but there was no one on the station, and when I came home, everything was gone. I was all alone.”

“That’s not silly at all. That’s scary,” Etta assured her. “I’ve had nightmares where I was alone on Bajor, even though it has never happened to me. I’ve always had Tei.”

“So have I,” Tei added. “But it’s okay now. You're not alone. We’re right here.”

She held out her arms and they hugged her. “Thank you…” They got onto the bed so the hug would be more comfortable. The two had started to chill after leaving the pile of blankets, so her body heat was a welcome warmth. Molly could feel the coolness of their skin and scales against where their faces touched her neck. It was much different than the warm hugs she received from her parents, but she found that she liked it.

Eventually, she pulled away. Although she felt much better, she was wary of falling back asleep. Another nightmare would be terrible, and if the twins returned to the couch, she’d be all alone in her room.

Seeing the frown on her face and the way she gripped her blanket in her hands, the two boys realized she was still afraid. They turned to each other and Etta mouthed a word in Kardasi. Then, Tei added to the idea with another silent word and a snip of his fingers.

They faced Molly and each took one of her hands. “We know how to cheer you up! Follow us!”

Tugging on her arms until she got up, the twins slipped off of the bed. She followed them as they snuck to the door and her eyes widened when Etta typed a code into the door panel. Nervous, she said, “My mommy and daddy told me not to sneak out!” Tei shushed her and she lowered her voice. “We’ll get in trouble…”

“You only get in trouble if you get caught. That’s what our yadik told us.”

“Does he let you sneak out?” They grinned and shook their heads. “But what if we do get caught? Won’t he be mad?”

“We won’t get caught, Molly,” Etta assured her, prying off the panel and fiddling with some of the circuitry. “We sneak out all the time.”

“Besides,” Tei added, “-we only let ourselves get caught during the day, anyway.”

“Why?”

“So Odo only thinks we steal things when our yadik is busy in his shop. He doesn’t look for us at night.”

The door opened just enough for them to squeeze through. They pulled her out into the dimly lit hallway as she firmly but quietly scolded them, “Stealing is wrong!” They giggled as they walked down the hall, the door sliding shut behind them.

-

Closed for some system upgrades, the promenade needed an access code in order to gain entry that night. It was easiest to break into the bar when it was actually closed, and the access code they had figured out by watching their father when he did private work made the panel flash red for the first time since they’d discovered it. They startled. Etta quickly pried open the panel, and Tei ripped out a few chips and wires. The red light vanished, but it was too late. The security office would have gotten the alert.

Etta switched a few of the remaining chips, saying some choice Bajoran words under his breath that Molly was sure her mother would never want her to repeat. The door slid open, and the three ran as soon as they could fit through.

The twins skidded to a halt in front of their father’s shop. Tei tapped in an access code and the shop opened up. Once they were inside, he locked the doors. It was close to pitch black in the shop, but neither of them called for the lights. They guided Molly to the back of the shop. She wondered what they were doing in there. What could they possibly do in the shop to cheer her up that they couldn’t do anywhere else they were actually allowed to be?

Etta went underneath a desk, pulling Molly down with him. They huddled close together underneath it while Tei went to a shelf against the wall. He grabbed a box and came back. Snatching three tools from the top of the desk, he ducked underneath and sat next to his brother. Tei turned on one of the tools, a faint light that let Molly see that he had a box of fabric scraps and two different tailoring tools.

They rooted around in the box, pulling out various fabrics and comparing them. Finally, they settled on a square of silvery gray cloth. Tei folded the square in half and Etta used one of the tools to cut a humanoid shape out of it. As Etta sewed the two pieces together, Tei shredded some tiny pieces of fabric. They stuffed the figure with the chunks until it was plump.

“You’re making me a doll!” Molly realized.

They nodded. Tei told her, “Pick out what colors you want her clothes to be.” As she looked through the different scraps of fabric, Etta opened a drawer and pulled out some small silver beads, along with a fourth tool. He put the beads inside of the tool and gestured to Tei, who took the tool. Etta pulled a piece of blue fabric from the box and worked on cutting out a small teardrop shape and two eyes as his twin put beads on the doll’s face.

They completed the doll’s face and presented it to Molly for her approval. “Oh, she’s Cardassian!” The beads went around the eyes and up the forehead like their own ridges. The teardrop formed the indent on their heads and beads led down from that to show where her nose was. Although the doll had no ears or real chin, they’d added beads for the ridges there as well. Her mouth was a simple line of black stitching, curved upward in a smile. Molly traced the beads with a finger. “She looks pretty already!”

She handed them the colors she had chosen, yellows and oranges, and told them the doll should have a dress. They cut up the pieces and put them together in a way that reminded Molly of the clothes that Mr. Garak wore. It was a simple dress that would cover the doll’s neck and shoulders, but expose the arms and was shaped to fit the body but flared out under the waist.

They were in the middle of sewing the parts of the dress together when the lights of the shop came on at a gruff, “Lights,” from the front. The three of them froze.

There were footsteps, and someone stepped into the back. Molly recognized the pants and boots to be part of the station’s security officer’s uniform. The person came up to the desk and crouched down. Odo’s face peered at them. He was scowling, but the expression softened to his usual frown when it saw it was just a few children, ones he was familiar with.

“Hmph, it’s just you two.”

“Hello, Constable!” they greeted him.

“Molly, I never expected you to be a rule breaker. The promenade is closed, no one is allowed in until morning except essential personnel, which you three are not.”

The twins were grateful Molly was with them, or else the Constable would already have dragged them out of the shop and towards a holding cell. Etta gave him a pleading look and explained, “But Constable Odo, Molly had a nightmare. We’re just making her this to cheer her up.” He showed the changeling the doll. “Please don’t tell our parents.”

Matching his twin’s expression, Tei nodded and begged, “Please, Constable Odo! We promise we won’t come onto the promenade when it’s closed again! This was just very important! Essential, even.”

Odo didn’t look convinced that they were telling the truth. They weren’t, of course. How else would they keep successfully stealing from the bar if they could only do it during the day and when the promenade was open?

Molly came to their rescue, clenching her fists and straightening up. “Yeah! They’re just trying to help me, Odo!”

Odo gave a harrumph and looked away. He sighed and turned his head back at them. “Alright. I won’t arrest you this time.” The three gave him a chorus of eager thanks, beaming up at him. If he were a solid, he would have blushed. “I’m staying right here with you. As soon as you’re done with that toy, I’m bringing you all back to your parents’ quarters. I’ll let the three of them decide your punishment.”

“We were all having a sleepover in my quarters!” Molly told him.

Odo eyed the twins suspiciously. They wondered how he could possibly think Molly would lie to him. Her only crime was following them, nothing more. Etta nodded solemnly and confirmed it, “Yadik is spending the night with Doctor Bashir.”

Making a face, Odo drew back. “Ugh. I didn’t need to know that.”

After Odo called in a false alarm, the four of them ended up all under the desk, Odo and Molly watching closely as they worked on the doll. With the lights on, Molly could see it properly. It was somewhat slow work, putting the pieces together and making sure that they were all the right size to fit the doll. Molly ended up leaning against Odo. The Constable didn’t quite seem to know what to do with himself, but decided to put an arm around her.

The pieces of the dress came together bit by bit, a triangle pattern for the lower half of the dress, something with larger swaths of color reminiscent of their father’s suits for the top. They found a few small buttons to attach to the back so the dress could be easily removed.

Tei tied a strip of red fabric around the doll’s waist as a belt, and Etta fixed some black faux fur to the head as hair, and the doll was complete. It wasn’t perfect, a bit misshapen, but Molly smiled wide when she took it. “She’s beautiful! Thank you!”

Odo broke up the moment. “Time to go back to Chief and Professor O’Brien.” He let Molly get up on her own, but pulled on the twins’ arms to make them stand. They got the message; although he was fine with them making a toy for their friend, he wouldn’t tolerate them sneaking onto the promenade when it was closed again. Etta and Tei feared that they would once again have to watch their father argue to get them out of a holding cell soon.

Trying to get a peek at the promenade’s new access code while Odo punched it in got them a stern glare from the changeling. He stood closer to it to hide it, and they lamented at the thought that would have to wait to see their father use a new code. Which he wasn’t likely to do any time soon.

At least the holding cells could be warmed up, and Odo was kind enough to turn up the heat for them whenever he pushed them into one.

Molly bounced names for her doll off of them as they walked. She asked for Cardassian names, but they could only list a few book characters and authors. “If our brother was here, he would have lots of names!”

“Your brother, huh?” Odo hadn’t been too fond of the young Cardassian man that had brought them to the station. Etta and Tei smiled at the memory. “He wasn’t that creative. He named you two after your grandfather and your sister after an author.”

That was news to them. “Iana or Shotoo?”

“Shotoo. Shoggoth too. It’s a ridiculous name.”

“During the occupation, big brother found a baby sister he named Sho. Shotoo was his second baby sister.”

“Hmph. My point still stands. Your brother only came up with two original names. Iana and Domet.”

“Do you have any name ideas, Odo?” Molly asked, looking up at him with a smile. When he couldn’t think of any, the twins gave him smug smirks.

Odo had half a mind to drag them back to a holding cell, and they walked faster when they realized that. Molly hurried to catch up with them and Odo increased his pace.

When they arrived at the door to the O’Brien’s quarters, Molly tapped in an access code. The door slid open just enough for the children to slip through, making almost no sound. They went through and waved goodbye to the Constable. The door closed, and Etta put a different code into the door panel, fixing the chips and wires he’d rearranged.

They moved quietly to Molly’s room and the twins climbed onto the bed with her. She laid down, holding her new doll against her chest. “It’s kind of cold in here, huh?” They nodded and slotted in next to her, making her smile. How could she possibly have another nightmare with her two new friends on either side of her? Within minutes she was sound asleep. The twins followed suit, lulled to sleep by the comfort of her body heat.

-

Grumbling as the door chime woke him up from a nice dream involving a kayak, rapids, and no dislocated shoulders, Miles prayed that whoever had come to bother him would just leave. The computer informed him it was only 0445 hours. When the door chimed again at an increased volume, Keiko nudged him. “Miles… It must be Garak.”

Of course. He was the only person on the station who had a legitimate reason to come bother him so early in the morning. And for all he knew, Julian could be with him. “Right… I’ll let him in.”

He sluggishly pulled on a shirt and a proper pair of pants, not wanting to greet Garak or his best friend in his underwear. He yawned as he walked out to the main room. “Enter.”

The door slid open, creaking against its mechanisms for the last few seconds. Garak eyed it and then stepped in. There was no sign of Julian. Miles vaguely noticed that the shirt he was wearing was a bit wrinkled.

“Good morning, Chief.” At least Garak had the decency to sound tired so early. “I’m here to pick up my sons. I hope they were no trouble to you and your wife.”

“They were fine.” He yawned again. “They’re sleeping on the couch.” He gestured towards the couch, wishing Garak would gather his kids and go quickly so he could return to bed.

Garak looked where he pointed and then frowned at him. “Did you mean a different couch, perhaps?”

“What? That’s where-” He turned and shut his mouth. The blankets had been pushed off onto the floor, their bag was tucked right next to it where it’d been left, and there was a distinct lack of sleeping children. He looked over at the bathroom, but it was empty. No kids. “Where they were sleeping,” he finished.

“Chief O’Brien, I am sure it is ridiculous to ask such a question, but… have you lost my children?” Garak smiled at him, but his tone of voice suggested that Miles might be finding out what exactly the Obsidian Order taught its agents if he had actually lost the twins and wasn’t able to find them.

He walked towards Molly’s room. Maybe his daughter would know where her friends were. Or, if the twins were actually gone, perhaps she would be gone as well. Garak wouldn’t be able to blame him for the boys’ disappearance then. “Molly?”

Garak followed him into her bedroom and both of them were relieved to see the kids were fine. Molly was asleep in her bed, the twins huddled up to her. They both had their arms wrapped around her, no doubt seeking out her warmth.

“Why, Chief…” He turned to Garak. The man had a smirk on his face. “I think we may need to start thinking about how close our families may become in the future.”

“What?” He looked at the kids again. Tei had his face buried against Molly’s throat, Etta’s against the back of her neck. Julian had told him the significance on the neck ridges to Cardassians, but there were just kids, a couple of eight-year-olds, innocently sleeping. They weren’t doing anything wrong. Nothing that would imply-

Garak chuckled as he stepped up to the bed, and Miles realized he had just wanted to rile him up. He shook the boys awake. “Etta, Tei, it’s time to get up.” The twins woke slowly. They detached from Molly and sat up, wrapping their arms around themselves at the lack of warmth. Their movement woke her up as well. “Come on, my dears. You need to clean yourselves up and change. I have a shipment of fabrics coming in that I can’t be late to pick up. Ah, what’s this, Miss Molly?”

Garak picked up a doll Miles didn’t recognize as Molly answered, “Her name is Kirana, kind of like Auntie Nerys. Etta and Tei made her for me.”

“How lovely, for your first creation. However… you two aren’t supposed to take the supplies that aren’t in the scrap box without permission.”

“They’re just beads and buttons, Yad’.” Tei stuck out the tip of his tongue and Garak tutted at him until he pulled it back in. “How else would Kirana have her ridges?”

It was a Cardassian doll. Nerys wasn’t going to be too happy about Molly naming her new doll after her and adding an extra part to her name to make it sound Cardassian…

It _was_ cute, though, and not half bad considering two kids with barely any experience had made it.

Etta opened his mouth slightly and then wrinkled his nose. “Yad’, you smell like Doctor Bashir.” That earned him a light whack on the head, and he hissed.

“I was in his quarters for dinner, of course I picked up his scent. Don’t be rude.”

“In his quarters for dinner…” Tei echoed, rolling his eyes. He got a whack as well. Miles huffed a laugh. The two finally crawled out of bed and clung to their father, still looking sleepy. “Bye, Molly!” Etta parroted him and then they followed Garak out of the room, only leaving his side to grab their bag.

“Bye!” Molly waved to them. Once they were gone, she yawned.

Miles rubbed her head. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”

“Can they come over again?”

Well, they hadn’t caused any trouble at all, so Miles didn’t see any reason to discourage his daughter from making new friends. “Sure. You just have to ask Mommy and Mr. Garak the next time you want to play with them.”

-

Someone called his name and Miles banged his head as he tried to sit up, momentarily forgetting he was halfway inside of a vent. He swore, and then scooted out before trying to sit up again. Julian smiled down at him apologetically. Miles recognized that specific smile. It was the one he gave him before he asked for something, usually something ridiculous he could have asked any other engineer for.

However, whatever Julian was about to ask him for didn’t matter, because he’d sworn to himself last night that he was going to kill him and now was his chance.

“Chief! I need help in sickbay.”

“Yeah, well, I’m the one that really needs some bloody help.”

The smile turned into a concerned frown. “Are you alright?”

“No. I feel terrible. I’ve been betrayed.”

“Betrayed?”

“Yes. By you.” He pointed his tool at Julian, who looked incredulous at the accusation. As Julian sputtered, demanding to know what he’d done, Miles crossed his arms. “Now, you’ve only been a father for a few months, but there is an unspoken code among best friends with children, and you broke that code yesterday.”

“What did I do?”

“Last night? Does that ring a bell?”

“What? My date with Garak?”

“Exactly!”

“Miles, I’m allowed to go on a date with my boyfriend!”

“Yes, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that you two dumped your kids on me to have a date, and didn’t tell me about it. Garak told me he would pick the kids up at 2000 hours, and then the twins go, ‘oh, Yadik, have a nice night with Doctor Bashir.’ That’s betrayal!”

Julian’s face was going through a mixture of expressions and emotions that Miles didn’t bother trying to identify. Finally, he just looked exasperated. “Garak told me that the kids were having a sleepover with Molly, that you’d agreed to that. He didn’t say anything about picking them up at 2000 hours.”

They’d both been manipulated. Miles sighed. He couldn’t kill Julian now.

“So… will you come help me in sickbay?”

“Oh, alright. What did you break now?”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow/talk to me on Tumblr: @Oblio-k


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